AACR2: Summary of rules on personal and geographic names

Personal Names -- Chapter 22

1. Establish a person's name based on the way the person is most commonly known (including pseudonyms) as determined by how it appears on the majority of his/her works in the chief source of information (AACR2 22.1 and LCRI 22.3A). If the author writes under more than one name, choose the predominant name.

   Single surname - Enter under the surname.

   Compound Surname - Enter under element under which he or she is commonly known. Normally enter under the first element. Portugese: enter under part following hyphen--22.5C4.

   If there is no hyphen and it appears to be a compound surname, follow the same rules.

   Surnames with separately written prefixes - for example:

                   De Villiers, 1st name
   
   
                   Von Wielligh, 1st name

   The entry element depends upon the language. A list of treatment according to language can be found in 22.5D1. If English, enter under the prefix.

   Entry under forename (when there is no surname)--22.8A1. Enter under name by which commonly known.

   Examples:

        John, the Baptist
   
   
        Leonardo, da Vinci
   
   
        Francis Xavier, Saint
   
   
        Elizabeth I, Queen of England
   
   
        Pius XII, Pope

   
   
2. Always add the dates of birth and/or death if they are known (LCRI 22.17). For twentieth century persons the date must be exact. For pre-twentieth century persons use terms such as flourished, fl., or circa, ca., as shown in AACR2 22.17A when exact dates are not known.
   Example:

           Smith, J. P. 1938-
   

   
   
3. Always spell out initials and abbreviations in ( ) when the full form is known (LCRI 22.18A). Example:

           Smith, Russell E. (Russell Edgar) 
   

Geographic Names -- Chapter 23

Additions - Make all additions to place names used as entry elements (see 24.3E) in parenthesis.

Example:

        Budapest (Hungary)

Example:

        Prince Edward Island

        Banff (Alta.)

Uniform Titles - Chapter 25

Single Works

1. General principle: the best known title in the original language (as determined from reference sources) is to be preferred: if this cannot be determined, the original title in the same language should be used. For pre-1501 works in ancient Greek, the Latin title is preferred over the Greek.

2. Initial articles should be omitted from uniform titles.

3. If the title is identical or very similar to a uniform title already present, add to the title an explanatory word, brief phrase or other designation inside parentheses, in order to distinguish it. Example:-

   Romeo and Juliet (Choreographic Work)

4. If the item is part of a larger work:
   • If the item has a separate title, use this title as the uniform title. For example, for part 2 of JRR Tolkein's Lord of the Rings, use:

     Two Towers

   • If the title has only a generic title ("Book 1", "Part 1" etc), put the generic title after the title of the whole work, preceded by a full stop. For example, for part one of Goethe's Faust, use:

     Faust. 1. Theil.

5. Language: If the language of the item being catalogued is different from the original, add the language of the translation to the original after a full stop. If the item has two languages, add both, if three or more, use the term "Polyglot" instead of the language names. Example:

   Faust. 1. Theil. English

Collective Works

1. General principle: the best known title in the original language (as determined from reference sources) is to be preferred: if this cannot be determined, the original title in the same language should be used. For pre-1501 works in ancient Greek, the Latin title is preferred over the Greek.

2. Initial articles should be omitted from uniform titles.

3. If the title is identical or very similar to a uniform title already present, add to the title an explanatory word, brief phrase or other designation inside parentheses, in order to distinguish it (see 3. above for example).

4. Complete or Selected Works:
   • If the item purports to the the complete works of an author, attach the collective title "Works" to the author's name, following a full stop. Example:

     Catullus, Gaius Valerius. Works.

   • If the item consists of the selected works of an author in a variety of literary forms, attach the term "Selections" to the uniform title, following a full stop. Example:

     Catullus, Gaius Valerius. Selections.

   • If the item consists of the works of an author in a single literary form, attach a term that identities the form ("Plays","Poems" etc) to the uniform title, following a full stop. Example:-

     Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset), 1874-1965. Plays.

5. Language: If the language of the item being catalogued is different from the original, add the language of the translation to the original after a full stop. If the item has two languages, add both, if three or more, use the term "Polyglot" instead of the language names. Example:

   Catullus, Gaius Valerius. Works. German. 

6. Year: If necessary to distinguish the uniform title from otherwise identical uniform titles, include the year, preceded by a full stop. Example:

   Catullus, Gaius Valerius. Selections. English. 1979

   This should only be done for collective works, or the Bible (as below), not for single works.

   The Bible

   1. The uniform title for the Bible is "Bible".
   2. If necessary add the following (in the order given, and separated by full stops):-
      • The Testament (O.T. or N.T.)
      • The Book - if more than one of the same name, follow name of the book by a comma, space and then the relevant ordinal eg, "Samuel, 1st"
      • Language
      • Version
      • Year
      Example:-

      Bible. O.T. Samuel, 1st. English. New English Bible. 1971